What We Are Looking For

Every successful business operating today started out as a nothing more than an idea.

An idea that was supported, nurtured and grown with both the passion of the founder along with money and wisdom.

You have the remarkable idea and the passion. Now all you need is some capital and perhaps some guidance to either grow your existing business or to get started from scratch. That’s where Seed Charleston can help.

What We Are Looking For…

Seed Charleston is sector agnostic meaning we are interested in remarkable businesses and business ideas from any industry. From software to services and everything in between.

Even though we are open to just about any venture, there are a few criteria we use to determine whether to invest our money and our time in you and your company.

1- Is Your Business Capital Efficient?

What we are looking for are companies that can turn a small amount of seed money into something much larger. This means the capital we put in can quickly be deployed to increase sales or attract more clients. Capital intensive businesses like automotive manufacturing are not appealing to us.

2- Is Your Business Running Already or Is It Ready to Launch?

We are particularly interested in businesses that have already started and have a few customers but need capital and mentoring to grow to the next level. Startups are also welcome provided they are ready to launch or nearly so. We do not fund research projects such as drug development.

3- Is Your Business “Competition Resistant”?

Every business has competition and we recognize it as a way of life. But when we invest, we are looking for something about the business or idea that makes it unique in the marketplace. A way of satisfying a need or a want in a way no other business can duplicate.

4- Can Your Business Be Bigger than Just You?

This is another way of asking if your business can scale. Can your business function without you? Imagine you are a dentist. Your business (practice) is limited by the number of patients you can personally see during a day. You cannot grow beyond this constraint of time and energy. If this is the case with your business, then we are likely not going to invest.

But what if you are a dentist that has developed a system for teaching people to become excellent dental assistants in less than 24 hours. That might be a scalable business because the system you have developed could be sold to dentists all over the country.

5- Are You Someone We Like, Trust and Admire?

We only work with people we like, trust and admire. There is no amount of money in this world that is worth the hassle of dealing with someone that does not meet this simple test. So a large part of our choosing to work with you (perhaps the largest part) will be based on these three criteria. And we suggest you apply the same standards to us…

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Seed Charleston

Seed Charleston, co-founder by Mark Richards and Patrick Bryant is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs such as yourself start and grow remarkable businesses. We do this by investing money in your business and time, energy and knowledge in you.

We call it Mentor Capital, and we feel it is the fastest way to get you and your business from where you are to where you dream to be...

The Founders

Mark Richards, co-founder

Mark Richards is a serial entrepreneur from Charleston.

He has started over a dozen companies, many of which became profitable multimillion dollar ventures in a short period of time.

Patrick Bryant, co-founder

Patrick Bryant is a Partner in Go To Team , (national video services), CigarRow (cigar distribution & events), and SouthEaston Systems (residential technology installation). He has started 6 different businesses and is focused on growing passionate entreprenuers.